() Rise and rind: The 2025 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest is officially underway in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Drawing more than 2,000 entries from 31 states, the biennial contest challenges cheesemakers to a battle of innovation, quality and taste.

Cheese lovers at the event told Midwest correspondent Nick Smith the variety of entries is nothing to sniff at.

“You can’t go to the grocery store and find this,” said attendee Mary Anne Froelich.

Expert judges from across the country are slicing and poking a variety of cheese, all while holding the products to the highest standards.

“You can’t take one element and remove it from the equation,” said judge Eric Meredith. “Looking at rind development, smell, taste, flavor, aroma, texture it’s all-encompassing.”

Every entry begins with 100 points, and points are lost each time a judge notes defects in flavor, texture, color, packaging and more. Each competition class chooses a gold, silver and bronze medalist.

Category winners will be announced on Thursday afternoon after two and a half days of thorough inspection.

Despite the pressure on the judges to crown a big cheese, it doesn’t grate on them instead, they made some time to share their un-brie-lievably cheesy senses of humor with .

“I have a slight addiction to cheddar, but it’s only mild,” said judge Laura Liehn. “That’s a good one, right?”

For fellow judge Eric Vorpahl, “It’s all gouda. So many jokes I camembert it.”

The competition, hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, has evaluated America’s best cheeses, butter and yogurts since 1981.